Elizabeth Johnson Allowing Kindergarteners to cut and glue may be a daunting task for many teachers. But this Kindergarten selfportrait not only address these vital skill they can give your students an authentic sense of pride in a representational artwork of themselves.
The bright colors and simple illustrations make the story very appropriate for the young artist to begin thinking about making a Kindergarten self-portrait.
Motivational Material
It is always important to begin the lesson with some motivational material. These materials can be a demonstration, a video, or even a book. When you are teaching low economic students, they may not have as much literacy time at home as more advantaged students, so I enjoy using books.
I imagine you can find numerous books to begin this lesson, but I found one that I particularly like to use. The story Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by, Margaret Chodos-Irvine is a Caldecott Honor-winning story. The bright colors and simple illustrations make the story very appropriate for the young artist to begin thinking about making a Kindergarten self-portrait.
Ella Sarah’s independence and sense of adventure in choosing her clothing style are fitting for Kindy learners. In this lesson, you are allowing them to create a sense of identity as they choose their skin color, the clothing color they want, and hair color. Students won’t even realize they are learning manipulation skills and fundamentals of art design.
Other Tips for Kindergarten Selfportrait
There are many excellent skills in this Kindergarten self-portrait art lesson so take the time to teach them. Demonstrate how to create the various line types, show students how to hold scissors, how to be safe and what is allowed and not allowed to be cut, and take the time to teach them how to use glue.
I use the rhyme “dot, dot, dot, just a little not a lot,” to help them remember to use just small dots on their cut item before attaching it to the paper. Don’t just tell young students, show them exactly what to do. They are a blank slate, and you are molding them into the students you want them to be for the next 5 years.
Final Thoughts on Ella Sarah Gets Dressed Kindergarten Selfportraits
Another variation on this Kindergarten self-portrait lesson is to use multicultural construction paper vs. the die cut people (I use the multicultural die cuts to make it more doable for kindy) to cut out body parts. I have instructed first grade to cut the body parts and it goes pretty well. It may add a day to your lesson.
If you would like the FREE PDF of my lesson plan click here and check out the blog for other great lessons. And please check out my other art lessons.
